Are the San Jose SaberCats not as dead as we thought?
- Trey
- Sep 20
- 6 min read
If you are a fan of arena football, you know the name the San Jose SaberCats. Regardless of when you became a fan, you know the brand.
But if you are an arena football fan dating back to the 2000s, the San Jose SaberCats were more than a brand. They were a dominant force in the AFL, making the playoffs 16 times in their nearly 20 year existence -- with 11 division titles and 4 ArenaBowls on their mantle.
A well run organization owned by the Fry family and led by the legendary Darren Arbet with countless arena football legends coming through the door to suit up in the green and gold.
But all that came to a screeching halt in 2015, when the AFL announced that the SaberCats were "ceasing operations for non-football related reasons." According to the Metro Silicon Valley in San Jose, the Frys were concerned about the rampant instability that had prevailed in the league since it returned to the field.
...and they weren't wrong in hindsight.
The AFL continued to dwindle each year after 2015 and eventually ceased operations in 2019, so they were on the right side of history there. They ended the SaberCats themselves before the league could kill them and they've been dead ever since.
So flash forward nearly a decade later to 2025, there's reason to believe that the San Jose SaberCats might not be as dead as we thought.
wait what?
Yes, you read that right. We have reason to believe the SaberCats may have a pulse.
Let's dive in:
The Case for the San Jose SaberCats Revival
Whenever talks of expansion come about, diehards everywhere always seem to clamor for the names and brands that they know and love. "Bring back the Grand Rapids Rampage!!" "We NEED the Chicago Rush"
"omg plz come back Philadelphia Soul"
This is what a typical reply section looks like whenever the word expansion is muttered in the same sentence as the terms 'arena football' or 'indoor football'. And the San Jose SaberCats are up there with those mentioned brands.
But the problem is, there's been an indoor football team in San Jose for the past couple of years that has been pretty dang good. They are always a perennial contender in their conference and the road to the championship game usually went through the SAP Center.
It seems like they are built for the long run and nothi.....
Huh. So they are dormant now?
So now there's a void for some arena football in the city of San Jose in 2026?
Let's dig deeper.
During the 2025 AF1 season, multiple sources have confirmed with Off The Wall that the Fry family (yes, the same Fry family that owned and operated the original SaberCats) attended at least one AF1 game, mingled with some of the executive leadership team of the league, and even got in the mix helping out the Nashville Kats get things situated in a couple of different ways (allegedly).
To me, that says that the Fry family is intrigued with what the AF1 is doing.
To me, that says that the Fry family may have that itch to get back in the arena football world after nearly a decade away -- playing 'arena football rules' with the rebound nets and all.
But that's all speculation, Trey! Enough of your daydreaming and living in fantasy land.
LIVE IN THE NOW! We need some actual FACTS here.
You want facts? Okay. Look at this.
"Status Date: Aug. 04, 2025"
...does that say what I think that says? Someone renewed the registration for the San Jose SaberCats name in August 2025?
Maybe someone is just squatting on the intellectual property that is the San Jose SaberCats. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to cash in on the nostalgia of 2000s AFL teams and brands.
Let's see who the owner is of the trademark is.
The TAW, L.P.? What does that even mean? Who is that? Who runs that?
Let's dig deeper.
"Overseeing the operations and compliance of this Limited Partnership is David A. Fry"
Okay. So to recap:
The status of the trademark for the San Jose SaberCats brand was RENEWED in August 2025.
AFTER the Fry family attended games during the 2025 AF1 season and mingled with league leadership.
AND a member of the Fry family is listed as the CURRENT OWNER of said trademark?
AND the IFL team that has played in San Jose the past few seasons just went dormant?
Let's go even deeper down the rabbit hole. (btw, this all public knowledge)
Apparently all of the paper work was submitted for the trademark back in March, and the renewal acceptance was accepted on August 4th.
Now let's look at the Prior Owner Information:
Okay, everybody stay calm. Hold up. HOLD UP!
A company named "Arena Football One, LLC" owned the San Jose SaberCats trademark, then it went into the possession of the Fry family not too long after? Am I reading that right? Now, there is a likely chance this may be the LLC that rose from the ashes of the Arena Football League when it originally folded in 2009 and purchased the bankrupted AFL assets, before pivoting back to using the AFL name in 2010. (might actually be the case)
This could be a long shot. This could be the most optimistic thinking possible given the situation. I understand that. I don't claim to be a legal expert either, so this could be entirely off-base and I could be just spiraling at this point.
But why else would the San Jose SaberCats trademark have been renewed when it did?
The timing is peculiar. But how would San Jose fit in the current landscape of the AF1?
Well, let's take a look at the current AF1 map.
We've got 2 teams in the Pacific Northwest in Washington & Oregon, and getting a team in San Jose would continue to build out that West Coast for the league.
Post-Publish note: a reader pointed out to me on social media that there is also a newer arena with a much smaller capacity in San Jose called the Tech CU Arena, 3 miles from the SAP Center from the Panthers recently played and the SaberCats played before that.. could that be a fit? Interesting to take note of it.
They have some regional matchups where they could play 3-4 games against each other, depending on the length of the season and only have a couple of cross country trips per season.
But we also need to consider the Stockton Crusaders, a team that was announced in 2024 as an AF1 expansion, but hasn't really shown any type of promise or indication that they will be playing any sort of football in 2026.
To give you an idea, the Kentucky Barrels were created, announced and have signed nearly half a roster of players in the last month and a half.
The Stockton Crusaders have been around for nearly a year and a half and we only get AI mockups of jerseys on their socials a couple times every other week.
But why bring up Stockton? We're talking about San Jose, are we not?
Stockton is about 80 miles from San Jose. Not right next door, but also close enough that the San Jose SaberCats actually played ArenaBowl XXVII in Stockton as a home game when the SaberCats' usual home arena of SAP Center was booked for the date of the ArenaBowl by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. (actual true story)
Maybe there's a world where both the Stockton Crusaders & the San Jose SaberCats co-exist. Maybe there's one where neither exists?
What if... the Stockton Crusaders have not mentioned anything yet because they are a placeholder organization for the San Jose SaberCats?
Okay, I'm starting to spiral but you see what I'm getting at. The SaberCats brand has been dead for nearly a decade, and suddenly there are lots of signs of life with a timeline that supports the theory that they could in fact be back.
Sources have indicated there may be a surprise team arise in the West for the AF1 2026 season. Why not the SaberCats?
Only time will tell.
What do YOU think? Will they? Should they? Would they?